someone else
by ANamelessTune
Summary: 'do you think it's possible to be in love with someone who is in love with someone else' more than you'll ever know Miss Valentine. the downs of love, as told by Robbie Shapiro. RobbiexCatxBeck


**someone else**

;; '_do you think it's possible to be in love with someone who is in love with someone else?' more than you'll ever know Miss Valentine. the downs of love, as told by Robbie Shapiro ;;_

_A/N:_ so yeah, I've been working on this for a while and finally decided to finish it. enjoy.

Disclaimer: i own nothing

.

I'm no _hunk_.

Or _stud_.

I can't do a _hair flip_, or that thing, where guys brush their hair back. My hand usually gets stuck in my rebellious coils when I try to do that.

I'm not really much of a _singer_, or _dancer_, or _actor_, or first-class in any sport that requires body movement. I am pretty superior when it comes to online tennis though.

And I have a puppet, that should count for something right? His name is Rex, like the dinosaur. He calls himself that sometimes. A dinosaur.

But _For God's Sake_ Rex can you just shut up when we talk to her and let me get a word in edgewise because you make her run away - _run to him_.

And I mean it isn't _that_ hard to tell that she likes him by the way she bats her puppy dog eyelashes extra fast when she's around him or how she giggles at the stupidest of his jokes that don't even make sense (_but fails to laugh at the wittiest of mine, I mean Blue Whales are hilarious). _He makes her happy. And maybe that's what _KILLS _me the most. That _he _makes her happy and don't get me wrong, I love to see her happy. I just wish she could be happy with me.

.

Your probably wondering who _she_ is. She, is Catrina Valentine. More commonly known as Cat. She's lively and bouncy and she does this little head tilt thing when she's thinking really hard. She has to think really hard about a lot of things, but I don't mind. And she doesn't really make fun of me all that much, except for when I saw my reflection in the fun house that one time and screamed, but it was only friendly teasing. She doesn't seem to care that I have a puppet, even though Rex always makes fun of her. I'm working with him on that.

And there's this little thing that happens to me when I see her. My stomach get's kind of bouncy, Rex blames it on burritos, and beans, and that week old pizza I ate, but I think it's more than that. I think its love. Yes, I, Robbie Shapiro, am in love with Catrina Valentine, and you, my friend, are one of the first to know. Even though, yes others have guessed at it, like Tori who made that assumption after I bought Cat's lunch for her every day last week, but besides that I'm very subtle about it.

But it doesn't really matter what I feel for Cat, as you will soon find out, I'm not really on the top of her "Who I'd Like to Date" list, but maybe my charm and style and class will eventually win her over. Yeah, I doubt that too.

.

She even told me one day, about her feelings for him. We were sitting in my Grandmother's living room while I tried; I repeat _tried_, to fix her century year old air conditioning unit that decided to break down on the hottest day of the year. After only being there for an hour I was growing tired of the constant _Robbie! Robbie! Are you sure that wire is supposed to go there? Would you like another glass of prune juice? Why won't your Grandfather answer the phone when I call him? _I mean _Shut Up_ was coming out of about every pour of my body except for my mouth. Just let me be alone with her. Let me have a chance.

Finally my Grandmother fell asleep on the couch while rereading the instruction manual to me out loud for the third time. Then the only noise in the apartment came from the soft snore from my Grandmother and Cat beside me who swung her legs back and forth as she sat on the arm of a loveseat and swirled her straw around in the glass of prune juice that she held in her hands, causing ice cubes to clink together. She had already drank three glasses of the foul concoction my Grandmother made insisting it is "good for the digestive system". This was all in a failed attempt of making my Grandmother like her more.

"Do you believe in love," she asked me out of the blue and my head whipped towards her.

"Yes," I said almost instantly because for one happy moment of my existence, I thought she was talking about me, about us. And then she smiled, a breathtaking smile, that showed all of her teeth and lit up her eyes, yet she looked away. She was nervous, she had something to hide.

"What is it?" I asked fully facing her and set the screw driver I was working with on the ground beside me because _screw it_ we were just going to end up calling someone to fix it anyway and at this very moment the girl that I might be in love with, might just love me too.

She looked down at me and sighed, "Do you think it's possible to love someone who is in love with someone else?" And I think about all the girls I might have flirted with in front of her in the hallways at school because I still believe that her words are somehow revolving around me.

"I guess it's possible," I said still dazed and lost in my own thoughts trying to figure out who she thinks I love.

"But I'll never be able to compete with Jade," she says so lightly I think I misheard her but the defeated look on her face makes her words ring loud and clear and suddenly I am snapped back into reality.

"Jade," I repeat lightly out of shock.

"Do you think I even have a chance, with Beck?" she asks me on the edge of tears. And I just sit there for a good thirty seconds with my mouth hanging open gulping down air while I try to form words. And it hurts me to see tears welled up in her eyes, I want to look away. I want to look away _so bad_, but I can't.

"Sure," I finally say, but it comes out as a mere squeak another underlying fact on why Cat doesn't like me. Beck is a man, while I am still a boy. Her eyes then light up in hope and joy and she hugs me and squeals waking up my Grandmother.

"Are you finished with the air conditioner yet?" my Grandmother asks.

And from that day forward, yes, I do believe that you could love someone who is in love with someone else.

.

I become her last resort.

If her Friday Night date suddenly blows her off, or is home sick, or for some reason that still wonders me, she doesn't have a date at all, I am her backup plan.

We usually go to the movies and see childish movies that her dates refuse to take her to. They take her to see scary movies, or romantic comedies that pretty much make making out inevitable. But here I am sitting next to Cat, an armrest between us, surrounded by people half our age watching a cartoon dog running around trying to catch a cat. A stunt, so cliché, it should be frowned upon, but Cat, and the rest of the audience, seem to find it hilarious. And because Cat's laughing, I laugh along with her. Her laughter is practically magical bubbling up through the air standing out from the rest. And for a minute I just stare at her and see tears trickling down her cheeks, happy tears. And suddenly I want to cry happy tears too, because she's happy. She's happy with me.

.

And then the last piece of the world I'm still standing on breaks off.

_We're over_ and maybe that's all I needed to hear as Jade and Beck walk away from each other in separate directions down the hall. And Cat who happens to be standing in a classroom doorway nearby walks, _no runs_, to Beck and gives him a bone crunching hug, the same one she gave me last summer when my goldfish died the day after I won it at the carnival.

And she looks so fragile, like she's drowning in his arms and she's sad, so sad for him. And she doesn't even realize that now that Beck and Jade are over she actually has a chance.

Now I'm sad.

.

Five days later he asks her out. She never expected how many 'friends' she would suddenly make.

_Are you friends with Cat?_

_Who?_

_The girl dating Beck._

_Oh, yeah, totally. I've know her since like the 1__st__ Grade._

The entire freshman girl population suddenly wants to be her, dressing in bright, cheery colors and skipping around pretending to be all ditzy. Some even died their hair red because "red is the new blonde." But they could never get the shade quite right. None even came close.

She was invited to all the A-List parties, and was even invited by a few seniors to go on a road trip that weekend to San Diego. But she politely declines because she's spending the weekend with her new boyfriend.

.

The sixth day they were dating, it was a Friday, Beck and Cat were approached by an agent who offered Cat an audition for an upcoming TV show. Cat squeals and envelops Beck in a tight hug. And from what I could see from my car, Beck gave the agent a thumbs up behind Cat's back.

Maybe that's what kept me walking down the school halls not entirely broken. That kept me waving back when Cat would give me a quick wave from under the canopy of Beck's arm. Beck was Cat's ticket to success. She had talent, I've know that since I met her, but maybe she just needed something to make her stand out from the rest of the people in our talent filled school. Something like Beck.

.

I spent the next Friday night in André's basement throwing a tennis ball back and forth. Cat didn't need me anymore. Even if she wasn't hanging out with Beck, she still had many awaiting admirers to fall back on.

"Why didn't you tell Cat you loved her when you had the chance?" André asked tossing the tennis ball to me. I, shocked, didn't catch the ball and let it land in my lap.

"Why don't you tell Tori you love her?" I stammered and hurled the ball back to him. He caught the ball and stared off in silence, thinking.

"That's not the same thing," he finally says.

But we both know that's not true.

.

_Cheater_

_Cheated On_

_Still Cheating_

The words that buzzed through the halls on Monday morning.

_He cheated on her?_

_Did you hear? He hooked up with Jade last weekend._

_I hear he's going out with two other girls._

The words I agreed with.

_Poor Cat, he doesn't deserve her anyways._

_She's way too good for him._

_Asshole._

The words that broke me.

_I knew it was going to happen eventually, he only liked her for her looks, do you see those short skirts she wears? Maybe I'll take a crack at her next._

_She got what was coming for her, slut._

_It was between Cat and Jade. Obviously he picked Jade._

The "I heard…"s

_I heard Beck fell back in love with Jade._

_I heard Beck cheated on her with Tori!_

_I heard Cat walked in on them._

_I heard Cat's crying in the supply closet._

_I heard she's too embarrassed to show her face at school._

And as the rumors buzzed around, in walked Beck bringing the hallway to a shocked silence as everyone stared at him, some were glaring, some surprised, and some with a smirk.

Suddenly he wasn't the Beck I thought I knew. His hair stood up on ends, looking like he hadn't showered in days. His eyes rimmed with dark circles and the stubble on his chin was growing much too long. His clothes looked worn and even his signature leather jacket looked out of place. He weaved his way through the crowd towards his locker, head hung. The cool, 'nothing fazes me' Beck was gone and replaced by this cowardly replacement.

Something ran through me at that moment, something that never ran through me before. Bravery. For once in my life I felt better than Beck Oliver. I felt above him. I felt stronger than him, tougher than him. And as I walked toward him fists balled, I could practically taste adrenaline on my tongue. People watched me as I made my way over to him.

I didn't know what really happened over the weekend, and I didn't really care. But I knew, I knew he did something to Cat, I knew he did something to hurt her, and I wanted him to pay. I wanted him to feel pain. Pain that I had been feeling ever since I found out Cat was in love with him.

As my fist collided with his jaw every ounce of anger in my body bubbled up and I yelled, yelled at the world. Yelled at the warmth that stung my fist and spread up through my arm. He fell, hard, he wasn't expecting it. Then he looked up at me standing over him while holding his jaw. Pain along with guilt filled his eyes. He knew why I hit him. And if felt good, so good to hit him, to make him feel the pain I had been feeling for months. When he tried to get up, I hit him again, in the stomach. He bent over clutching his stomach and looked up at me with red eyes.

He was just going to stand there and take it because he knew what he did was wrong.

"I'm sorry," he sputtered and then gasped in a breath. I looked down at him. He looked weak, he looked afraid, he looked broken. And my fists slowly uncoiled and I let a deep breath out noticing the crowd that had gathered around us.

_Go Robbie!_

_Hit him Robbie, hit him again!_

He looked down in shame as my eyes bored through him.

"Tell that to Cat," I spat and turned around walking out of the school as teachers and the school nurse rushed past me.

.

I was suspended. For two weeks.

My parents grounded me from everything—TV, computer, even Rex, but I didn't really care about that because I've been hanging out with him less and less.

And my dad even gave me a knuckle touch behind my mom's back.

_What were you fighting over?_

… _a girl._

_Did you win?_

_He didn't fight back._

_That's my boy._

And as if things weren't bad enough, my parents sent me over to my Grandmother's house everyday to help her sort through some of my Grandfather's old knick-knacks she wanted to sell online. Everyday ended the same way in which we didn't make any progress because she kept telling me the story behind every useless thing my grandfather owned.

On a muggy Tuesday morning in my first week of suspension, my Grandmother was just starting a story about how my Grandfather had gotten a ceramic turtle he named "George", when there was a sharp knock on the door of her apartment.

"Who is it?" my Grandmother yelled in her shrill, raspy voice.

"It's me," the person's voice rang, "Cat." I froze and out of shock, dropped the turtle onto the ground, causing it to shatter.

"_Robbie!_" my Grandmother yelled rushing over to me and scooped up what remained of the turtle, "do you know your Grandfather paid nine dollars and ninety-five cents for _this_ turtle? You can't just go around wasting money these days!" I ignored her, got up, exited the small storage closet, and made my way to the front door. "Robbie, are you listening to me?"

I took a deep breath before opening the front door. Cat stood there, looking up at me with wide eyes. "Cat," I breathed, "look I'm sorry for what I did at school. I don't know what came over me, I just—" before I could say another word, Cat flung her arms around my shoulders and pulled me into a firm hug.

"I'm not mad, silly," she said in her innocent little voice. I stood there astounded for a moment, before relaxing and hugging her back. She was hugging me, and my fish didn't even die.

"You're not?" I asked pulling away. She shook her head with a small smile.

"Why would I be? You stood up to the most popular boy in school for me. How could I be mad at that?" a smile still lingered on her lips, "well not really the most popular boy anymore, I mean after word got around that you beat him up…"

"Oh, yeah," I rubbed the back of my neck, "how is he?" Cat shrugged.

"He's okay. I mean at least he has Jade around to take care of him, that should make the pain hurt a little less." I looked down at Cat with sad eyes.

"Oh, Cat. I'm so sorry, I—"

"Its fine," she sighed, "I mean they're just _Beck and Jade, _you can't have one without the other." A heartbreaking smile graced her lips.

"He didn't disserve you Cat."

She sighed and looked down at her feet, "I know," she said in a little voice.

"I mean, come on, you're Cat Valentine," she looked up at me, "you're an amazing singer, and dancer, and a talented actresses, you're silly, and cute, and beautiful," I stopped and sighed, "you're amazing Cat. Any guy would be lucky to be with you."

A dazzling smile spread over her face and she giggled. "Gosh Robbie, sometimes I wish I could be more like _you_."

My jaw dropped. Catrina Valentine wanted to me more like me, _ME_, the nonhunk, tone-deaf, uncoordinated, puppet boy, me.

"_You want to be more like me_?" I asked still shocked. She smiled and nodded.

"Of course, I mean you're always so sweet and funny. When I heard all the things people were saying about me after what happened last weekend I broke down crying. But you on the other hand are so confident. I mean even though people tease you all the time, you act like it doesn't faze you. And you're so brave. You're the only boy in school that had the guts to stand up to Beck Oliver and actually _won _the fight. _You're_ amazing Robbie, any girl would be lucky to be with _you_."

I just stared at her not knowing what to say or do. She thought _I_ was amazing, and any girl would be lucky to be with _me_. This coming from the girl who I'd been in love with for the past year.

"You really think that?" I finally squeaked. She nodded and giggled, taking a step towards me.

"Yeah," she said, "I do." She gently lifted her hand up and ran it through my curly hair. My heart skipped a beat when she locked eyes with me, and then leaned up towards me, standing on her tippy toes. She planted a nice, sweet, light kiss on my lips, before pulling away. "Thank you for everything," she breathed lightly, then kissed me again, this time with more force.

"Anytime," I said breathlessly when we parted again. She smiled another stunning smile before letting her arms fall from my shoulders and backed away towards the door.

"My mom is waiting for me outside, but I'd love to go to the movies with you on Friday." I smiled fully prepared to let her pick the movie, I was just lucky to be going with her.

As she turned to walk out the door, I stopped her, "Cat, wait!" I said grabbing her arm. She turned around and stared up at me confused. I had to say it now, while I had the chance. "I-I, Cat I," I stuttered and she smiled, "I love you," I finally said and her smile only grew wider.

"You know Robbie," she said taking a step towards me, "at first I believed you could be in love with someone who is in love with someone else, but I came up with a new theory."

"What is it Cat?" I smiled.

"I think, that you can _believe_ you're in love with someone, when in fact, the person you really love has been right beside you all along, you're just too stupid to realize it. What do you think about that one?"

"I completely agree," I stated trying to act cool, but I could feel excitement building up in me ready to explode.

Cat leaned up and lightly kissed me again, "I glad," she said pulling away, "because I love you too."

I couldn't take it anymore, "you do Cat?" I squeaked, "you really do?" A smile so big spread across my face that my cheeks hurt.

"Yes Robbie," she smiled back and giggled, "I really do." Then she walked back to the door of the apartment and looked at me before exiting, "I'll see you Friday, 8 o'clock sharp."

"Of course," I waved as she finally exited the apartment. I shut the door and quickly let out and chorus of "Yes, yes, yes!"s and "whoohoo"s and flung my arms and legs around in a way that I suppose could be classified as dancing

My grandmother's head shot out from the storage closet. "Enough of that," she said, "go get the dust pan and broom from the kitchen and clean up the mess you made in here."

"Sure, Mamaw," I sighed, "whatever you say." I walked towards the kitchen, a smile not leaving my face.

.

So that's the story of how I, Robbie Shapiro, ended up with Cat Valentine. It just proves that theories are only theories, they're not set in stone, they're allowed to change. Just in my case, they changed for the better.


End file.
